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Marketing Return on Investment: What is a Benchmark Average and What Marketing Methods Have the Best ROI?

In this blog article and podcast we are going to talk the return on investment from different marketing methods. We will discuss the industry ROI averages for different methods and give a conclusion on which method has the best ROI. At the bottom of this blog post, we point out what marketing method has the best average return on investment. 

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5 Important Things Marketing Does For Organizational Success

Marketing offers significant benefits to organizations looking to promote a cause, exceed sales expectations, or simply better serve their customers. This article will survey the top 5 reasons organizational success is enabled by effective marketing. Most notably, in an environment full of similar services and products with little differentiation, marketing becomes a competitive advantage: the main reason why customers will choose your organization's service as opposed to a competitor's. Learn from the examples of WestJet and eSight eyewear how marketing drives organizational success.

Develop your competitive edge with Profitworks

Companies work with agencies and marketing teams to develop a unique sales engine and brand to reach and retain clients. Create your marketing competitive advantage today by looking at your competitor's marketing and creating a brand strategy. Work with Profitworks to become the market leader in your industry today.

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How to fire my marketing agency

Sometimes marketing agencies will struggle with understanding a client's business or prove not to be accountable in the results they provide. While trying to amicably resolve gaps in performance, companies, charities, and professional organizations may sometimes need to terminate their marketing agency. Here are general strategies for how to cancel services with a marketing agency along with a transition plan. Don't settle for average growth - work with our team of dedicated growth professionals, and challenge your team to become the market leader in your industry today.

Work with a team that cares just as much about your business

We've heard time and again how our business owners want advisors that take the time and care to manage their marketing as if it was their own.

Executive Summary

 - Organizations should work to ensure an existing relationship isn't salvageable before terminating an agency

 - One of the biggest mistakes in terminating with an agency is failing to reclaim owned media assets (social media, website, stock photos, and other user accounts)

 - World class brands like Nike, Samsung, and Coca Cola work with marketing agencies and the focus is working with the right partner

Signs that it may be time to terminate a marketing agency 

Here are some common challenges or symptoms that arise when it may be time to terminate your existing marketing service agency.

• Regular quality issues in content
• Lack of accountability to performance metrics
• Inconsistent response times
• Disregard for professionalism when communicating with you and the team
• Similar work being created for other clients
• Lack of innovation and new ideas to drive results

Pending contractual arrangements, clients may not be bound to provide any reasons for service terminations. Typical agreements will only state 14-30 days notice prior to termination. Organizational leaders should aim to provide a professional termination based on documentation and regular communication. This will help ensure that in the future when your organization is ready to work with a new agency that there won't be any misinterpretation concerning the reputation of your team. For other reasons it may be time to fire your marketing agency see this article by Hub Spot: which emphasize digital marketing issues that can be red flags for your company.

6 Steps to fire your marketing agency

Though there may be difficulty in terminating a service with a vendor, especially when vendors may have some degree of personal relationship with the business owners. As part of their role, leaders may sometimes be required to make difficult decisions that are best for the organization.

1- Reiterate the goals that you want the agency to achieve

Identify with your marketing agency prior to signing an arrangement what key performance measures that you are looking for them to deliver. This will help clarify differences in objectives and value delivered. Make it clear what you are looking for the vendor to achieve and whether progress toward this objective can be tested. For example, a performance measure that can be established is a 30% increase in website traffic or growing social media followers by 1000 people by year-end. Ensure that the vendor has understood this and be open to input as to the performance indicator they feel most impactful to your business.

If this step hasn't been taken already it would be worthwhile trying it to ensure that an agency that has experience, industry insights, and creative capital isn't needlessly removed. There is plenty of value in salvaging a troubled business partnership. 

2-Set up recurring checkpoints to review progress and challenges

There is an optimal balance of checking in and reviewing the progress made by your marketing agency. This helps to ensure that they are getting the necessary input to serve well in their advisory or hands-on roles. Predetermine and schedule times to meet with your vendor to review goals, progress, opportunities, and challenges every 3-6 months. This ensures that there is accountability for both parties to bring the right input and perspectives while remaining focused on the right goals.

The challenge with accounts that don't need regular reviews is that the work is probably not too difficult to do in reality, which means organizations should consider bringing the contracted services in-house if a regular check-in meeting isn't required. This is because if a marketing service doesn't require a leader's industry input it most likely is turn key and can be run with little effort. This is an ongoing challenge faced by business leaders as marketing agencies may sometimes be distant. True creative work is done when technical marketing aptitude meets industry insights, even if the touch point happens only 2-3 times a year.

3 - Communicate issues and work to resolve systemic issues rather than one-off problems

When vendors begin to miss targets or objectives, determine what the root cause of the issue is. There can be existing legacy applications, collateral, or media assets that could exist which your agency had little to do with. When there is strong evidence that a marketing agency is underperforming, the company should inform and communicate these gaps to the agency. Unfortunately, businesses will often only react to issues rather than take the next step to request a diagnosis or a change in process to prevent the one-off from becoming a recurring problem. If the agency continues to underperform or remains delinquent it will be up to the organizational leader to make the difficult to choice to terminate the agency.

4 - Get an audit from another agency to make a termination decision

Having the opinion of another agency could also help diagnose issues or confirm suspicions that a marketing firm is underperforming. This step may require additional time but it's worthwhile to ensure that there weren't extenuating circumstances before parting ways with a marketing agency that has a grasp on your business and industry.

Request an audit from a marketing agency to determine whether remedial action can be taken or termination is warranted.

5 - Create a transition plan

In the event that the final decision is to terminate an existing marketing agency, the creation of a transition plan is paramount to ensuring business continuity. Determine the scope of the marketing agency's work and identify internal team resources that can cover for the work. Often times this means having to hire or extend the hours of certain team members while a more permenant arrangement can be made. A transition plan seeks to ensure that your team or clients are not impacted by the transition, while ensuring timely reallocation of on-going marketing work.

6 - Reclaim all digital and physical media assets

Ensure that the agency you work with returns all passwords from social media accounts, website log-ins, hosting log-ins, and access to marketing collateral. This is important as there have been times where a previous agency was terminated and left with a number of different social media passwords that were later unrecoverable. This meant not only having outdated information that could not be changed and further complicating future customer interactions.

7 - Draft a termination letter to your agency

A vendor termination letter is a formal communication to your marketing agency that you wish to end the service agreement. It is typically one page and delivered prior to the next billing cycle. Ensure that your signing officer completes the letter and delivers it to your marketing agency.

Here is a sample template to terminate the incumbent vendor.

Sample template:

Dear John Smith of [marketing agency],

We wish to inform you immediately that [your company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. For the reasons stated here we are concluding our service arrangement:

Reason 1

Reason 2

Reason 3

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success.

Sincerely,

[Signing officer]

Recovering from marketing agency flops

Creative agencies can be expensive to employ or a significant drain on resources like time and team member morale. Yet despite these challenges, world leading brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Samsung continue to rely on marketing agencies to help augment and shape their brand with cutting-edge concepts and themes. The key to successful marketing isn't whether an agency should be used but rather working with the right partner. 

Profitworks helps organizations succeed with marketing

"I've found Profitworks to be tenacious and adaptable to the challenges our industry possesses."

-Blair - Business Owner & Customer

Read More About What Our Customers Say

We've helped companies across Canada and the US succeed with growth, because we believe in the beauty and meaning of every article written, email sent, and social media post crafted. Our team endeavours to create unique competitive advantages for all of our customers and would be thrilled to learn more about your mission and plans for your team. Profitworks provides marketing strategy, content marketing, branding, and social media management for great companies with a stellar product or service.

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Marketing Agency Termination Letter Sample

Sometimes marketing agencies will struggle with understanding a client's business or prove not to be accountable for the results they provide. After trying to amicably resolve gaps in performance, companies, charities, and professional organizations may sometimes need to terminate their marketing agency. Here are 3 impactful templates for canceling services with a marketing agency along with a transition plan. Don't settle for average growth - work with our team of dedicated growth professionals, and challenge your team to become the market leader in your industry today.

Work with a team that cares about your business just as much as you do

We've heard time and again how our business owners want advisors that take the time and care to manage their marketing as if it was their own. Take on the challenge of removing one service or subscription that is dropping the ball by using our agency termination letter sample today.

Executive Summary

 - Once an organization has established that a vendor is no longer viable it should expediently and professionally terminate existing service agreements 

 - Organizations that require guidance on the use and style of termination letter should utilize our templates found in this article

 - World class brands like Nike, Samsung, and Coca-Cola work with marketing agencies and the focus is on working with the right partner

Top reasons why companies fire their marketing agency

Starting a new marketing campaign or partnership with an agency begins with a lot of fanfare and excitement.  Over time a company may decide to move on from a marketing service for the following reasons. Sometimes marketing agencies can simply lose their creative spark for your industry or product. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it provides an opportunity for your organization to look elsewhere for creative work. Here are some common challenges or symptoms that arise when it may be time to terminate your existing marketing service agency.

• Regular quality issues in content
• Lack of accountability to performance metrics
• Inconsistent response times
• Disregard for professionalism when communicating with you and the team
• Similar work being created for other clients
• Lack of innovation and new ideas

Depending on contractual arrangements, an organization may not need to provide reasons for service terminations. Agreements usually require 14-30 days notice prior to termination. Organizational leaders should aim to provide a professional termination based on documentation and regular communication. This will help ensure that in the future when your organization is ready to work with a new agency that there won't be any question concerning the reputation of your team.

Professional and direct marketing agency termination letter samples

There may be difficulty in terminating a service with a vendor, especially when vendors may have some degree of personal relationship with the business owners. As part of their role, leaders may sometimes be required to make difficult decisions that are best for the organization. Organizations that are looking for a more big-picture approach can refer to our previous article on firing a marketing agency.

A vendor termination letter is a formal communication to your marketing agency that you wish to end the service agreement. It is typically one page and delivered prior to the next billing cycle. Ensure that your signing officer completes the letter and delivers it to your marketing agency.

Here are sample templates to terminate the incumbent vendor.

1 - Short and sweet sample

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

We wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. For the reasons stated here we are concluding our service arrangement:

Reason 1 sample: lack of reliability and responsiveness from you and your team

Reason 2 sample: repeated issues in content quality

Reason 3 sample: lack of notable results from marketing and advertising efforts

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

PNP (Positive Negative Positive) sample

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

Dear John Smith of [marketing agency],

After consideration with our team, we wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. In the past we have recognized your contributions in the following area which has helped our business succeed:

Contribution 1 sample: your willingness to take on a consultative approach

Contribution 2 sample: your team's ability to share industry insights to improve our outcomes

It is clear however that our two teams may have increasingly differing approaches and direction in the future. We have felt that these areas were strong indicators that continued partnership will not be to our mutual benefit:

Reason 1 sample: notable decrease in creative output

Reason 2 sample: lack of courtesy and professionalism from your team

Reason 3 sample: stark differences in marketing direction

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

Polite sample with reference offer

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

Dear John Smith of [marketing agency],

After consideration with our team, we wish to prioritize resources on some internal projects and wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. In the past we have recognized your contributions in the following area which helped our business succeed:

Contribution 1 sample: your willingness to take on a consultative approach

Contribution 2 sample: your team's ability to share industry insights to improve our outcomes

Should you require it for future business I would be pleased to offer you my reference for work done and projects we've collaborated on with one another. This decision comes with regret and also with confidence that both our teams will continue growing and that we may endeavour to work with each other again in the future.

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

Recovering from marketing agency flops

Full-service creative agencies can be expensive to employ or a significant drain on resources like time and team member morale. Yet despite these challenges, leading global brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Samsung continue to rely on marketing agencies to help augment and shape their brand with cutting-edge concepts and themes. The key to successful marketing isn't whether an agency should be used but rather working with the right partner. 

Profitworks helps organizations succeed with marketing

"I've found Profitworks to be tenacious and adaptable to the challenges our industry possesses."

-Blair - Business Owner & Customer

Read More About What Our Customers Say

We've helped companies across Canada and the US succeed with growth, because we believe in the beauty and meaning of every article written, email sent, and social media post crafted. Our team endeavours to create unique competitive advantages for all of our customers and would be thrilled to learn more about your mission and plans for your team. Profitworks provides marketing strategy, content marketing, branding, and social media management for great companies with a stellar product or service.

Marketing Agency Termination Letter Sample

Sometimes marketing agencies will struggle with understanding a client's business or prove not to be accountable for the results they provide. After trying to amicably resolve gaps in performance, companies, charities, and professional organizations may sometimes need to terminate their marketing agency. Here are 3 impactful templates for canceling services with a marketing agency along with a transition plan. Don't settle for average growth - work with our team of dedicated growth professionals, and challenge your team to become the market leader in your industry today.

Work with a team that cares about your business just as much as you do

We've heard time and again how our business owners want advisors that take the time and care to manage their marketing as if it was their own. Take on the challenge of removing one service or subscription that is dropping the ball by using our agency termination letter sample today.

Executive Summary

 - Once an organization has established that a vendor is no longer viable it should expediently and professionally terminate existing service agreements 

 - Organizations that require guidance on the use and style of termination letter should utilize our templates found in this article

 - World class brands like Nike, Samsung, and Coca-Cola work with marketing agencies and the focus is on working with the right partner

Top reasons why companies fire their marketing agency

Starting a new marketing campaign or partnership with an agency begins with a lot of fanfare and excitement.  Over time a company may decide to move on from a marketing service for the following reasons. Sometimes marketing agencies can simply lose their creative spark for your industry or product. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it provides an opportunity for your organization to look elsewhere for creative work. Here are some common challenges or symptoms that arise when it may be time to terminate your existing marketing service agency.

• Regular quality issues in content
• Lack of accountability to performance metrics
• Inconsistent response times
• Disregard for professionalism when communicating with you and the team
• Similar work being created for other clients
• Lack of innovation and new ideas

Depending on contractual arrangements, an organization may not need to provide reasons for service terminations. Agreements usually require 14-30 days notice prior to termination. Organizational leaders should aim to provide a professional termination based on documentation and regular communication. This will help ensure that in the future when your organization is ready to work with a new agency that there won't be any question concerning the reputation of your team.

Professional and direct marketing agency termination letter samples

There may be difficulty in terminating a service with a vendor, especially when vendors may have some degree of personal relationship with the business owners. As part of their role, leaders may sometimes be required to make difficult decisions that are best for the organization. Organizations that are looking for a more big-picture approach can refer to our previous article on firing a marketing agency.

A vendor termination letter is a formal communication to your marketing agency that you wish to end the service agreement. It is typically one page and delivered prior to the next billing cycle. Ensure that your signing officer completes the letter and delivers it to your marketing agency.

Here are sample templates to terminate the incumbent vendor.

1 - Short and sweet sample

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

We wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. For the reasons stated here we are concluding our service arrangement:

Reason 1 sample: lack of reliability and responsiveness from you and your team

Reason 2 sample: repeated issues in content quality

Reason 3 sample: lack of notable results from marketing and advertising efforts

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

PNP (Positive Negative Positive) sample

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

Dear John Smith of [marketing agency],

After consideration with our team, we wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. In the past we have recognized your contributions in the following area which has helped our business succeed:

Contribution 1 sample: your willingness to take on a consultative approach

Contribution 2 sample: your team's ability to share industry insights to improve our outcomes

It is clear however that our two teams may have increasingly differing approaches and direction in the future. We have felt that these areas were strong indicators that continued partnership will not be to our mutual benefit:

Reason 1 sample: notable decrease in creative output

Reason 2 sample: lack of courtesy and professionalism from your team

Reason 3 sample: stark differences in marketing direction

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

Polite sample with reference offer

Marketing Service Agreement Termination
James Sample
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
647-999-2111

Date:19 September 2017
Recipient: John Smith
Company name: [marketing agency]
Address: 21 Brooklyn Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T6Y7

Dear John Smith of [marketing agency],

After consideration with our team, we wish to prioritize resources on some internal projects and wish to inform you immediately that [company name] will no longer be requiring your services effective [date]. In the past we have recognized your contributions in the following area which helped our business succeed:

Contribution 1 sample: your willingness to take on a consultative approach

Contribution 2 sample: your team's ability to share industry insights to improve our outcomes

Should you require it for future business I would be pleased to offer you my reference for work done and projects we've collaborated on with one another. This decision comes with regret and also with confidence that both our teams will continue growing and that we may endeavour to work with each other again in the future.

The team at [your company name] thanks you for your continued efforts and wishes [marketing agency] ongoing success. Please confirm receipt of this correspondence and contact me at [phone number] should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

[replace with signature here]
[replace with your name here]

Recovering from marketing agency flops

Full-service creative agencies can be expensive to employ or a significant drain on resources like time and team member morale. Yet despite these challenges, leading global brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Samsung continue to rely on marketing agencies to help augment and shape their brand with cutting-edge concepts and themes. The key to successful marketing isn't whether an agency should be used but rather working with the right partner. 

Profitworks helps organizations succeed with marketing

"I've found Profitworks to be tenacious and adaptable to the challenges our industry possesses."

-Blair - Business Owner & Customer

Read More About What Our Customers Say

We've helped companies across Canada and the US succeed with growth, because we believe in the beauty and meaning of every article written, email sent, and social media post crafted. Our team endeavours to create unique competitive advantages for all of our customers and would be thrilled to learn more about your mission and plans for your team. Profitworks provides marketing strategy, content marketing, branding, and social media management for great companies with a stellar product or service.